Scale Rubber Powered Model Flies for 4 Minutes Indoors.

This video shows David Aronstein's winning mass launch flight in the Coconut Scale mass launch event at the 1995 United States Indoor National Championships. An amazing flight of over 4 minutes.

[@keithshergold9257]

What a gentle and civilized hobby.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

It certainly is. I've been enjoying it for over 50 years. 🙂

[@aeromodeller1]

Very interesting flight dynamics. Flying right on the edge. Note that it climbs more slowly than any of the other planes. Low power takes longer to use up the available energy. Starts flying left from motor torque rolling into left bank. As the torque comes down, the bank decreases and it levels, causing it to stall slightly and descend. It noses up and drops the nose a few times, right on the edge. Then it transitions to a right circle and begins climbing again. It is clearly capable of much longer flights.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

He's still flying this model after all these years. An impressive achievement.

[@MarkJoseph-vv4pj]

Superb engineering. I bow down to you David.

[@crashrr2993]

If it hadn’t been videoed, no one would believe it! Just… just… mind-boggling!

[@stephenwadkin4233]

Beautifully trimmed model, an absolute pleasure to behold.

[@demietrilazarakis283]

For the love of aeromodelling! That is inspirational!

[@DoyleBlevins]

It was impressive. I have seen David fly that model in person.

[@sblack48]

Aspect ratio much higher than the other models in addition to perfect trim and incredibly light weight

[@jimvincent9522]

Wonderful, enthralling, and a fine surprise finish. Beautiful.

[@cadams2136]

I'd love to know the where the rules for coconut scale are printed? It's a great flight!

[@rv637]

Flies longer than my electric rc jet! Beautiful model!

[@woutmoerman711]

Amazing flight! I'm proud of I get a 1 minute flight indoor with my scale model.

[@anantnarayanan9773]

Dr Aronstein is a genius. I learnt all about Walk Along Gliders watching his videos

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Yes indeed. An amazing, talented man.

[@martinlagrange8821]

Fantastic video - where the ANT-25 had shades of the later U-2 by proving that it, too, can make carrier-deck landings 😃

[@jeffwalther3935]

I agree with everyone's comments and enthusiastic response to freeflight for so many reasons. This video highlights a near one-to-one correspondence of modeling to reality to the adventure of aerodynamic R & D altogether, like nothing else. Remarkably so too. J.K.'s channel, series, work, . . . is tapping into a brand new thing, freeflight that is NEW to aviation, modeling, engineering, technology, etc., ALL with DIY stuff all just off the shelf PLUS the human tenacity, patience, knowledge, skill and T.L.C., tender loving care it takes to achieve new record-breaking aviation engineering achievement like these magnificent freeflight aircraft in his series. Therefore here, with this freeflight video highlighting endurance flight in a rubber-powered single engine monoplane, with historical priority, WHAT aircraft was designed in every way for such a singular feature? The great "Spirit of St. Louis", Charles Lindbergh's near flawless Ryan was designed in every way for the same performance features SO it would be ideal as a choice for freeflight modelers. To add to the flavor of freeflyers, realize this: Ryan's employee that single-handedly designed and built that aircraft's wing was Douglas Corrigan, who about 10 years later flew his own, personal modified Curtis Robin monoplane transoceanically in the greatest solo flight of aviation history, single-handedly again, the "wrong way", east instead of west, to prove he could and how. Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan was one of the greatest aviators and heroes in that field OF ALL TIME, imho. Therefore, build and fly Lindy's "Spirit" and Doug Corrigan's Curtiss Robin to witness the epitome of freeflight modeled manned flight.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Wow, thank you for the comprehensive comment Jeff. I actually have several plans for the Robin and have considered building one. I expect you'll see me build one in the future. Need to find a good plan for the Spirit. It certainly deserves to be modeled.

[@jeffwalther3935]

@@Watchingthevideos99 Just something historical to consider with the Curtiss Robin is that it's standard water-cooled engine made the aircraft barely airworthy, underpowered, unreliable and in most ways a lousy aircraft. This is because instead of putting more efficient and better air-cooled engine, Curtiss used surplus water-cooled WW1 engines in the Robin line and so the aircraft failed and was cheap enuf for Douglas Corrigan to personally buy and just swap a big-air-cooled engine in the same bird and with only supplemental fuel tanks and the plumbing made the Robin truly airworthy, even transoceanic, and FINALLY fully capable of the potential of the good airframe that Curtiss' greed and shortsightedness took Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan's one-time, transAtlantic stunt, perhaps to show how wrong the near monopolistic abuses were in the marketing history of Curtiss aircraft that came in the goldrush of early airplane designers. So if you do a Curtiss Robin, research Corrigan's famous flight for photos of his hybridized aircraft WITH the air-cooled rotary engine. The difference in appearance between the two versions of aircraft is very different AND Corrigan's Robin's engine and propeller ARE bigger than the standard pipsqueak Robin Curtiss sold; that Corrigan modified and flew the Atlantic with using the engine the Robins shoulda been equipped with all along. Since itza freeflight model, the difference would only be cosmetic, but the changes Corrigan made should be included by you if the model is based only on Curtiss Robin standard blueprints.

[@wayneandrus240]

How fantastic and whqt a beautiful craft

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Thanks for watching!

[@xfredstudio1779]

very amazing..type being flown..i was fascinated to see it.the first time i saw a plane flying so perfectly..it landed very accurate.best🤗👍

[@dwightbrown2808]

The Bach was very nice with the flying.

[@iskanderonjev6753]

4 minutes - auf rubber-motor? Fantastic!

[@baptistapereira7210]

BEAUTIFUL!!

[@andrewnielsen3178]

Wonderful subject and a skillful build. Well done you.

[@georgmaly2972]

Sehr gute Wahl getroffen für so ein Wettbewerb.👍👌

[@stephensowell9578]

Amazing! if you think you've seen it all watch this # Unbelievable.

[@davidaronstein47]

Thank you John! I never saw this until Rob Romash sent me the link a couple weeks ago. October 2022. And its still flying.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Hi David. So happy I'm able to share this bit of modeling history. Your flight that day was epic and stands strong in my memory of significant events in my modeling life. And yes, I saw you had the model at the NATS in AZ. Wish I could have been there to see it fly again! Keep up your excellent work with the hobby.

[@jimsmalleimb7709]

Fantastic! The best I could do was with a scale model clipped wing Piper J-3 Cub, about 20" wing span, enlarged from a peanut Peck Polymers plan, that would fly for exactly one minute. That was around 1991. I still have the model, but it hasn't flown in 30 years.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Nice! You should find a club and start flying again!

[@jimsmalleimb7709]

@@Watchingthevideos99 : I wish I could. When I flew it was in Oshawa, Ontario and I belonged to a club there. That was a little over thirty years ago. I live in Nova Scotia now and nobody here cares about such things. Even the club in Oshawa had only a dozen or so members. Stuff like that just isn't very big in Canatax.

[@mikekirda4055]

Coconut-scale hero!

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Yes indeed! The Coconut Scale master.

[@doriangray682]

@@Watchingthevideos99 Почему кокосовой? Эта модель обклеена кокосовой плёнкой?

[@aeromodeller1]

It is a competition class, like Peanut and Walnut.@@doriangray682

[@pietroseven8228]

Stunning!

[@gabrielmartore9914]

Very very good!!!

[@sailsoar]

I was there!

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Mark I have several hours of video from this NATS. I bet you show up somewhere in all that footage.

[@RCPlanesAndTravels]

ANT-25. ANT - Andrey Nikolaevich Tupolev/

[@ricardoalves5092]

Expetacular parabéns!

[@HassanAli-yi4vq]

It's amazing

[@mohammadaswal4761]

Amazing

[@JasSta76]

Wow that was nice

[@georgechristoforou991]

Free flight modellers dream.

[@patrickradcliffe3837]

Must have a stash of the good contest rubber!

[@eclipsetoys6551]

I was there man! Its leggit

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Good time Rob. 🙂

[@the5thmusketeer215]

Some Kids are enslaved by the raucous din of Heavy Metal Bands! 🤘👹 Gentler Souls are drawn to the rhythmic thrum of Rubber Bands... ☝️😇

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Well said! Thanks for watching.

[@the5thmusketeer215]

@@Watchingthevideos99 Thank YOU for uploading. 🤝

[@user-cp3yt2hp9i]

Прототип был выбран удачно...

[@sblack48]

How does one get the motor to last that long? Load it up with a bigger prop?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

These models are built very light so power requirements are lower. A long rubber motor wound with a geared winder and the large, slow turning prop are also part of the formula. Thanks for watching.

[@marinegunny826]

The plane is now carrier qualified

[@Watchingthevideos99]

😂😂😂 yes indeed.

[@cranklabexplosion-labcentr8245]

What’s the current world record for rubber powered free flight?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Depends, there are many categories of indoor model types. But the unlimited rubber powered category record is now over 1 hour. Thanks for watching.

[@pachanauta7083]

puso la bara muy alto para alcanzar

[@johnroberts3723]

Can anyone tell me how you can get a rubber motor to run that long? .

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Sure John. It comes down to several factors. First, this model is built quite light. Light enough that it's unlikely to fly outdoors. There are compromises in the structure to minimize weight. You can see Dave talking about that in the end of the video. Minimum weight for this event, by the rules, is 1 ounce and I suspect Dave is very close to that min weight. Second, the model has a large prop with fairly high pitch that closely matches the slow airspeed. The model uses a long rubber motor that takes a good number of winds. The model is wound with a geared winder before flight. The prop will simply need that long to unwind and since the model is so lightly built with a light wing loading, it will remain aloft. I've personally flown models for this event around 4 minutes. But this is one of the most impressive models that flies this event. The model is still being flown in major competitions as of now.

[@johnroberts3723]

@@Watchingthevideos99 thank you very much for taking the time to explain. I'm new to rubber powered models so I'm trying to do my homework before having a go at building a rubber powered scale model. Obviously I'm aware of the importance of building light and the large prop with high pitch makes sense so I'll just have to experiment to gain experience. Thanks again John.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

You're welcome John. Each model will fly better and better. Stick with it and you'll soon be making long flights! Have fun.

[@johnroberts3723]

@@Watchingthevideos99 thank you.

[@christianmccollum1028]

4min-10 seconds!!!

[@riazhassan6570]

How many turns did he manage to put on that motor?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Hard to say, but consider it's a very light model with a large, slow turning prop.

[@eanayayo]

I think it has kind of multiplicating gear drive to increase efficiency of both propeller and rubber band.

[@f4udhorn]

@@eanayayo I think it's not geared, Eana.

[@f4udhorn]

@@Watchingthevideos99 John, don't you think it probably has been wound to around 2000 turns.

[@eanayayo]

@@f4udhorn why not?

[@UncleChud]

Isn’t coconut 24” wingspan❔

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Coconut Scale has always been traditionally greater than 36-inch span. Thanks for watching.

[@DesertVox]

An all-geriatric competition.

[@johndarmiento]

wish i could see that motor wound

[@thesleuthinvestor2251]

Amazing! And when the model landed (on a table) the prop was still turning!...

[@Glicksman1]

Amazingly great models, but the lighting couldn't have been wose. Events that are filmed ought to be done at night with indoor lighting only. Some Lessons I've Learned - To get the best flights from a scale, rubber-powered model, select a subject with the best proportions (with some exceptions, if it looks good, it is good) and greatest wing area/weight (wing loading). High aspect ratio wings (aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord derived by dividing the span by the mean chord, or the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area) fly best for endurance at low airspeeds. Streamlining and such is mostly irrelevant at these airspeeds. It does matter to some extent, but not at the sacrifice to ovrall lift. Large horizontal stabilizers are crucial to good pitch trim. Size matters - a lot. Au revoir.

[@msher1438]

believe it or not I had built a paper airplane that stayed up just as long!

[@hdvades]

The Russians always have their sh#t togetther. Probably a Tupelu. Go figure. Nice.

[@onkcuf]

I like these and all but,to call these "scale" obviously does not include the prop.

[@aeromodeller1]

Doesn't include the spark plugs and ball bearings, either.